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Candide

 

            
             While some readers of Voltaire's Candide may hold that the correct answer to the .
             question of whether or not Candide learns anything throughout the course of his journey is no, I .
             am going to have to disagree with them. After reading the book from beginning to end, I found .
             several instances that prove that Candide matures from a nave young man into a man who is .
             able to think on his own without the influence of others. As Candide progresses in life, his eyes .
             open and he becomes exposed to bad without good coming out of it. This allows him to become .
             more independent and learn to form his own opinions.
             For a long time throughout Candide's life, he believes strongly in optimism. This is not .
             because he is forced to but because he is raised in that manner. Candide grows up as a nave and .
             vulnerable child in his own secluded paradise where the only things he is exposed to is the .
             brighter side of life and the idea that everything in the world happens for the better. He is always .
             taught to believe that "since everything was made for a purpose, everything is necessarily for the .
             best purpose.""(Candide, 18). These beliefs change when he is kicked out of the castle. This is .
             the educational turning point in his life that allows him to experience a series of events he has .
             never experienced before and would have probably never experienced if he would have remained .
             in the castle.
             The first instance that shows a spark of maturity in Candide is when he meets Dr. .
             Pangloss for the first time, after being thrown out of the castle. Dr. Pangloss informs him that .
             Bulgarian soldiers attacked the castle and killed Cunegonde, the object of Candide's affection. .
             Candide responds by saying "Cunegonde is dead! Oh, best of all possible worlds, where are .
             you?- (Candide, 25). This is when Candide begins to show doubt that only good comes out of .
             life. This also occurs when Candide meets Pangloss for the second time and learns that Pangloss .


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